Letter From HMRC Re: Ebay Account

Flyonthewall

listonosz wrote: »

I have had a quick look tonight and found numerous fake Silver bars,some state that they are replicas which mean not only are they fake but also breaking copyright laws.
Quite a few of the sellers selling this rubbish have excellent feedback.

First, if they state replicas then they are not misleading buyers.

Second, not all replicas are breaking the law. Replica coins are often made by reputable companies. They usually make it obvious it's a replica (such as being stamped on one side) and are not intended to deceive. Some collectors buy replica coins instead of the real thing due to them being much cheaper (and easier to get a hold of).

Third, being a fake and being a replica are two different things.

Flyonthewall

listonosz wrote: »

Trading standards quite often turn up at carboot sales and seize counterfeit items.
The organisers do not need to have expert knowledge of what is being sold,if they are told that there are counterfeit items for sale they should contact the relevant authorities.
I have now come to the conclusion that you just want to disagree with everything I post.

Explain why everyone else was disagreeing with you as well then. I'm not disagreeing for the sake of disagreeing, you just keep posting things that are obviously wrong or have major flaws.

Trading Standards may show up for those who constantly sell counterfeit goods and have been found out, but we were talking about removing all counterfeit goods and that would mean even a one off single item, regardless of whether the seller was aware. Trading standards couldn't deal with that happening at all stalls across the country. So to fully remove all counterfeits from being sold would require much more.

listonosz

Flyonthewall wrote: »

First, if they state replicas then they are not misleading buyers.

Second, not all replicas are breaking the law. Replica coins are often made by reputable companies. They usually make it obvious it's a replica (such as being stamped on one side) and are not intended to deceive. Some collectors buy replica coins instead of the real thing due to them being much cheaper (and easier to get a hold of).

Third, being a fake and being a replica are two different things.

I am sure Johnson Matthey are thrilled that their quality products are being copied illegally.
You seem to want to pick and choose what laws should be observed.

Flyonthewall

listonosz wrote: »

I am sure Johnson Matthey are thrilled that their quality products are being copied illegally.

I didn't state all were legal.

Flyonthewall wrote: »

not all replicas are breaking the law.

There are many replicas that are legal. Some are not, obviously, as with everything, but others are.

So while you may complain that there's loads and loads of counterfeits, how many are actually legal replicas and how many are illegal replicas?

You seem to want to pick and choose what laws should be observed.

You've very clearly never seen any of my other posts. Lost count of the amount of posts on here I've written about copyright law. I'm all for making people aware of the copyright law, so many don't realise when they're breaking it. As I said before though, not all replicas are illegal and if they're not illegal they're not breaking any copyright laws.

listonosz

Flyonthewall wrote: »

I didn't state all were legal.



There are many replicas that are legal. Some are not, obviously, as with everything, but others are.

So while you may complain that there's loads and loads of counterfeits, how many are actually legal replicas and how many are illegal replicas?



You've very clearly never seen any of my other posts. Lost count of the amount of posts on here I've written about copyright law. I'm all for making people aware of the copyright law, so many don't realise when they're breaking it. As I said before though, not all replicas are illegal and if they're not illegal they're not breaking any copyright laws.

The bars on eBay I am talking about are bought through Aliexpress from Chinese sellers and then resold by UK sellers.
Unless these Chinese sellers have licensing agreements with all the major government mints and bullion producers around the world I would have to conclude that they have been produced unlawfully.

Flyonthewall

listonosz wrote: »

The bars on eBay I am talking about are bought through Aliexpress from Chinese sellers and then resold by UK sellers.
Unless these Chinese sellers have licensing agreements with all the major government mints and bullion producers around the world I would have to conclude that they have been produced unlawfully.

Ahh, so we're talking about China? lol. They produce loads of fake things, everyone knows that. The laws are different there anyway.

That's not to say it's right, but it's not the same as a UK seller creating and selling a fake.

Are you sure that they're UK sellers and not sellers in China with location set as UK because that's where their warehouse is?

listonosz

Flyonthewall wrote: »

Ahh, so we're talking about China? lol. They produce loads of fake things, everyone knows that. The laws are different there anyway.

That's not to say it's right, but it's not the same as a UK seller creating and selling a fake.

Are you sure that they're UK sellers and not sellers in China with location set as UK because that's where their warehouse is?

They are fakes or replicas bought from China and resold by UK sellers they cost a fraction of the real bars and coins so the profit is enormous for the seller.
I will ignore the mildly racist start to your comment.

RFW

Just to throw my tuppence in.
Declaring a business and registering to pay tax doesn't mean you will have to pay any, in fact the reverse could be the case, especially if you are running a business as a hobby and never earn any money from it.

If you are ever unsure, contact HMRC or find a local accountant who will help. An accountant could end up being very rewarding to some.

soolin

Another point to consider is that being correctly registered as a business and having proper policies including a return policy can actually increase sales, regardless of what online site you use. There is a thread on the ebay board at the moment discussing a possible fake item- and my natural inclination is that because an obvious business seller is not registered as such that makes it more likely they have something to hide and more likely the goods are fake.

If a seller is not properly registered and showing business details online then they have something to hide and perhaps can't be trusted.

Flyonthewall

listonosz wrote: »

They are fakes or replicas bought from China and resold by UK sellers they cost a fraction of the real bars and coins so the profit is enormous for the seller.
I will ignore the mildly racist start to your comment.

I understood your other post and how it all works, but not all sellers that appear to be from the UK on ebay are actually from the UK, which is why I asked and all you've done is pretty much repeat what you said before. No doubt there are UK sellers doing that, but perhaps not as many as it first appears which is maybe why it continues to happen.

It's not racist at all. In what way could that possibly be racist? It's a fact that China are known for producing fakes and they have different laws. They produce a lot of genuine things too that are perfectly legal for us to sell here. If you think I'm being racist stating that then you're being racist too for making a big deal out of things coming from China..

You started the whole China thing and stated it wasn't right which is your opinion whereas I stated facts so if you're going to start down that path you're not going to make yourself look good.

Laws and standards vary around the world and ebay is a massive site. For that reason it makes it difficult for ebay to act on everything.

They also take numerous things into consideration. So if a high rated seller with little-no negatives probably isn't going to vanish overnight based on a few reports when hundreds or even thousands of people are happy with their purchase. Ebay aren't experts in any items, they never see the item sent out and they must be aware of competition reporting people to get rid of them, plus ebay are a business and get money for the fees. So it's not as straightforward as them looking at an item after a report and going "oh yeah, fake, ban".

So regardless of where items are coming from originally and how legal they are, I'm not sure you realise how much time and cost would have to go into it to look fully into every single report they get and act upon it.

I'm not completely defending ebay, they do let some really obviously bad buyers/sellers keep going (longer than they should), but I do understand why these things do still happen as it's just not possible for them to completely combat the issue. Plus not all of them are illegal despite what you may think.